The New Zealand Tour Commentary by Peter Blakeborough

Author:Peter Blakeborough
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: new zealand, commentary, tour guide, queenstown, travel and tourism, rotorua, coach travel, how to be a tour guide, tour commentator
Publisher: Peter Blakeborough

Putaruru had its origins as a timber town in the 1880’s when a hotel and blacksmith’s shop were erected here. Farming commenced once the land had been cleared of native trees but a deficiency of cobalt in the soil meant that the animals died of a mysterious ailment known at the time simply as bush sickness.

The area was later planted in exotic pine trees and the future of the town seemed assured. However, in recent years, nearby towns and improved roads have won the battle for shoppers’ dollars and Putaruru has gone into decline. Putaruru means the nest of the native owl.

Tirau

At the junction of three highways (1, 5 & 27), is the town of Tirau. Early Maori referred to Tirau as a place to catch native pigeons, or the Kereru, in the many cabbage trees that once grew here.

Tirau means the place of cabbage trees but surprisingly, was not the first name chosen for the town. When the first farmers settled here in the 1860’s it was intended that Tirau would be an English style town with a cathedral and oak trees, and it was called Okoroire. When the first post and telegraph office opened here in 1881, the name was changed to Oxford and, five years later, to Oxford North to avoid confusion with another Oxford in the South Island. A final name change occurred in 1895, when it became Tirau, after a prominent nearby hill that was covered with cabbage trees.

Some locals want to see the name Oxford restored and some building owners have never given up on the old name, like the owners of the Oxford Royal Hotel built about 1880, and possibly the oldest surviving building in the town.

A dairy factory was built here in 1938, but the town went into decline as the butcher, baker, pharmacy, and bank closed their doors. An armed hold up in 1989 led to the closure of the post office. But Tirau gained a new lease of life when a local entrepreneur had a vision of Tirau as a place for travellers to stop, rather than as a service town for the local farming community.

Many of the hills in the district are terraced, indicating the presence of a large Maori population in pre-European times.

On the site of the original blacksmith shop is the local information centre (iSite) and the world’s largest sheep and sheep dog. Another local attraction is the Castle Pamela with New Zealand’s largest collection of dolls, toys, and trains.

Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park

The Kaimai-Mamaku Forest Park of 45,000 hectares sits on two distinct but adjoining mountain ranges. To the north, the rugged spine of the Kaimai Range is about a million years old and was formed by uplifting fault movement. For thousands of years, while the nearby low-lying land lay under the sea, or under ice, the range was a Noah’s Ark of native plants. The name Kaimai means slightly fermented food.

In the southern part of the park, the Mamaku Plateau was formed more recently as the western rim of the Rotorua caldera.

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